SOMERSET COUNTY—A third day of deliberations passed without a verdict today in the trial of a reputed Blood who is accused of fatally shooting a Somerset County teenager in 2007 for falsely claiming to be a member.

Debate will resume Monday in the case of Xavier Bailey, 20. The New Brunswick resident is accused of killing Ammar Simmons, 18, of Franklin Township.

The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office charged Bailey with murder and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose for the attack that occurred July 15, 2007, at the Franklin Township Little League complex on Dekalb Street.

This is the second trial for Bailey, who was 17 at the time of the attack. Last year’s proceedings ended with a hung jury.

Since deliberations started Wednesday, jurors have sent Superior Court Judge Robert Reed a series of questions asking officials to read back testimony and replay Bailey’s taped statement in which he insists he did not shoot Simmons.

By 10 a.m., jurors told the judge they could not agree, but Reed urged them to continue talks. By the afternoon, jurors asked the court to replay a portion of Bailey’s statement three times. In the segment, he tells detectives Jeffrey VanderGoot and David Whipple from the prosecutor’s office that he heard a gunshot as he ran from the melee.

“My back was turned, and I just heard it,” he says.

Bailey was one of three Bloods charged in Simmons’ death. Gang members converged in the early morning hours for a fight and banished the outsiders, the state says. Simmons refused, claiming he was a member.

Fabian Austin and Michael Covil, who were 18 and 16, administered a “G-check,” quizzing Simmons to determine he belonged. When Simmons failed, they beat him and Austin ordered his cousin, Bailey, to shoot.

Testimony in this year’s trial started Jan. 26 and featured most of the same witnesses. Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Van Hise again called Troy Chance, who testified that he saw a “flash” come from Bailey, who was holding a gun. While the weapon was never found, police found a shell casing near the area where Chance said Bailey had been standing.

Defense lawyer Louis Mangione Jr. said Chance, a fellow Blood, changed his story several times and was drunk and high from partying before the attack. While Mangione warned jurors that Chance was not a credible witness, Van Hise said the he feared possible retribution.

Last year, Austin was convicted of second-degree reckless manslaughter and is serving a 10-year sentence. Covil pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of third-degree aggravated assault and is serving three.